Why Employee Learners are Different Than External Learners

Making someone do something is different than making someone want to do something. That difference is obvious when you compare the realities of internal employee learners with external learners such as customers and channel partners.

Recently, I attended a webinar by a prominent talent management industry analyst on a classic topic — integrated talent, performance and learning management. I saw the same tired slides, depicting the lifecycle of an employee from recruiting through off-boarding. I heard all the same integrated performance management benefits I’ve heard for years since all the big-boy HCM players bought learning and performance tech companies.

Boring as all get out.

But what struck me most was the presenter’s use of the word “compel.“ Not just once, but multiple times. “Compel” in the sense of making your employees do something. The tone of the presentation completely disregarded any empathy or thought about the individual who must be “compelled.”

This line of thinking made my stomach hurt. I groaned silently for 30 seconds every 30 seconds until the hour-long session wrapped up. I will never get that time back.

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Why must we “compel” learners?

My problem is the speaker’s choice of the word “compel.” Our entire talent management industry is focused on forcing users to do things. Very little is voluntary about using any part of a talent management system. The message is clear, but nowhere close to motivational:

If you like your job and want to keep it, do what we say you must do. “Compel” has always been the customary approach for big HCM suites. And now, that approach apparently extends to learning.

I have a theory on why that’s the case. Integrated human capital systems cost a bundle. They’re sold on a thin, tough-to-measure business case, and productivity must be measurably improved to offset that hefty cost.

HR organizations are compelled to show a return on investment, while users are compelled to do what they’re told. Maybe this is how it will always be for employee learners. But I think the LMS industry sold its soul a bit, when selling out to global HR systems companies.

What distinguishes external learners from others

This is one of the main reasons I focus exclusively on extended enterprise learning solutions. At the beginning of my career in 1997, I was an instructional technologist. I lucked into some cool extended enterprise CBT projects and enjoyed the stark difference of approach and feel. Ever since those early days, I’ve been involved with extended enterprise projects focused on learning content and LMS platforms.

Extended enterprise learning systems cover a spectrum of solutions — corporate channel and customer learning, association learning, commercial training and academic initiatives. In all of these scenarios, users are mostly voluntary.

You can’t “compel” non-employees to come to your site, or compel them to buy and consume learning content, or compel them to return. The only way they will come, learn, buy, share and return is if you create a user experience that they find relevant, meaningful and useful for their particular interests and needs.

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How LMS platforms can serve the needs of external learners

There are stark differences in the motivations that drive employee learners vs. external learners. That’s why they deserve different LMS functionality than employees:

1. External learners interact with an LMS when they recognize it is worth their time, effort and money. Internal learners interact when training is due, usually driven by compliance deadlines.

2. External learners frequently purchase content as individuals or through an organization they represent. Internal learners consume assigned content.

3. External learners typically find, purchase and interact with content from multiple sources. Internal learners can go anywhere they want, as long as it is inside their employer’s LMS.

4. When external learners enter an LMS, they are unknown users. Internal learners are known and recognized as employees by their employer’s LMS before they ever consume content.

5. External learners access an LMS from every conceivable technology platform, bandwidth speed, mobile device and global location. Internal learners are always known users, with known devices and known points of access and authentication.

6. External learners do not hate learning-related content. On the other hand, the content and LMS environments designed for employees usually are worth hating.

All of the above reasons encourage external enterprise learning technology vendors to focus on attracting and retaining users. Every part of the experience needs to be fun, modern and exciting — from access and the quality of the content to interaction design and ongoing engagement.

It needs to be more inviting like Facebook, Twitter, Amazon or eBay. And it needs to feel less like a traditional LMS or integrated talent management suite.

Understanding external learners is key

Tools that are virtually unknown in internal employee solutions (such as marketing automation, social media integration, gamification, mobile apps and interfaces, ecommerce, taxation support, search engine optimization, marketing and advertising) are key concerns and competencies in the external learning environment.

To succeed in extended enterprise learning, you must have a passion for connecting people with the business of lifelong learning. It brings out the passion and commitment in your audience.

If you don’t commit to that mission, you’re likely to fall behind. Eventually, your users will vote you out and go elsewhere. This applies both to vendors and extended enterprise program providers.

This is the new face of extended enterprise learning in 2014. It’s one part learning, one part marketing, one part technology — and whole lot of fun. Looking forward to where this leads us in the future.

Thanks for reading!

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